SHE Was Calm and Proud The First Time She Wore Her Yellow Dress for ABC’s Beauty and the Beast: 30th Anniversary

DIA is already a pro at performing in front of a live audience, as anyone who has watched the Grammys, Oscars, Peoples Choice Awards, and BET Awards over the past five years can tell. But earlier this year, the artist who is also known as Gabriella Wilson decided that he was ready for a very different challenge in front of a crowd. On Thursday night, she will take on her first major acting role as Belle in ABC’s live, partially animated audience. Beauty and the Beast: 30th Anniversary, in front of Josh Groban as Animal. In an interview before the show, Wilson said that while he was a little apprehensive about trying something new, he thought the process of working with costars was like David AlanGrier, who played Cogsworth, and short, in the role of Lumire, was a great learning experience.

It was challenging for me because I had never done anything like this before, he said. I just went full throttle because I’ve been touring all year. His first day of training felt like a whirlwind. I came from Argentina, and the next day was just like, boom, boom, boom, boom, song after song, wolf-chasing rehearsals, Belles Reprise, and Beauty and the Beast, and costume design.

The biggest challenge for any adaptation of the Disney Princess story is nailing the dress, which is the symbol of the main character in the Disney universe. Wilson works with a six-time Emmy-winning costume designer Marina Toysbina to unify the view. Marina and I talk a lot, and she has an amazing vision for costume evolution, says Wilson. How to go for a modern twist but still have an old French vibe, with an oversized ball gown and bodice.

Toybina, who is responsible for some of the most memorable costumes masked Singer, said putting the costume together required in-depth research into earlier story productions and 1700s French fashions. But imagining Wilson in the role also helped Toybina strike the perfect combination of new and old. I really love Gabby, he said Fair Pride. I think he has a modern presence. You see, there is youth and joy to him. I really want this to feel special and [like] something made for him. So it’s almost like two worlds colliding between classic and now.

Toybina said the dress was ultimately the last costume in the production put together. I was so inspired by the story of the rose, and at the same time I was trying to figure out, How do you incorporate those elements into a dress? he explained. One of the biggest debates was whether the dress should be yellow or gold, and in the end they settled on something in the middle, a bright yellow fabric with gold detailing on the bodice. When Gabby saw it, it was definitely a special moment for both of us, because I think it recreated an old one. But at the same time, you can see that there is so much love and history behind it.

Wilson described what it was like when she wore the iconic yellow dress at her first dress rehearsal. I feel like a little girl. I literally felt like a child wearing a dress for the first time, she said. I feel ready and I feel proud, you know? I feel like a beautiful princess, like a black and Filipino princess. I just felt, Wow, this is going to be really special and it’s going to be historic.

The original film was released before the 25-year-old singer was born, but she remembers seeing it on VHS as a young girl and singing along to Oscar-winning songs. “It must have been something I loved when I was a little girl, and I saw myself wearing a yellow dress,” she said. But when she started preparing to play Belle for the 30th anniversary special, she found new depth. There’s a power in him and an ambition that I think we forget, but that’s his main goal. And I found it when I discovered the character myself.